Stories about life; past, and present

Who is Joyful2beeblog’s Blogger?

Hi, I am M. Estes. I am a retired nurse with many interests and a good, full life which I am thankful for and enjoy tremendously. My friends and family are a major part of my life.

Since I enjoy being with people, at least every other day I get out to visit or be where people are. (Mental and visual stimulation are good for someone my age too. LOL. I am 67 years young.) I stay busy with various hobbies.

My Personality

Positivity (after an occasional initial freak out) is one of my personality traits. Viewing problems as challenges to be figured out, has contributed to how I cope with problems and stress. I have survived a lot of stress from working 17 years in Intensive and Coronary Care Units. (I was a nurse for 37 years.) My husband’s long term illness and finally his death were also major stressors in my life.

As the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Someone else later added “Then I must be Wonder Woman by now!”

I have a good sense of who I am because of my life. But these experiences have given me some wisdom, humorous stories and experiences which I offer in some of my blogs.

I am basically a “Happy Camper.”I try to see the good in situations and people. I used to be accused of ‘looking at the world through rose colored glasses.” But since I have had more life experiences now, I see the down side of things often enough to be realistic.

Another survival trait I have is a sense of humor. This helps me make sense of some parts of life that bewilder me, well at least sometimes. It definitely helps me relate to people better.

My Family

I have two sons, two daughters-in-law, who are all wonderful and love me. My second son and his wife have my two grandsons. I have led two lives (married and unmarried).

I love the family I grew up with and have many wonderful memories and experiences from the time we had together. I have lots of dear friends, and several very close friends.

My Pets

Since I have two cats with various physical problems, my nursing skills still come in handy. The cats often make great topics for my blogs and continue to motivate me to do research on their problems.

Hobbies and Pastimes

Reading and studying whatever tickles my fancy are major pastimes. My four most recent studies have been in personal growth, belly dancing, my spiritual life and energy healing.

Up until now I studied different topics such as psychology, Native American Culture (and stories), sewing, trees, fixing things, nature, and even Bonsai Trees in the past.

Photography inspired me to buy a good camera and take two classes to develop my skills. Capturing moments of beauty has always been a favorite hobby of mine, whether captured on my phone or camera. For over two years I was a photojournalist for a small town newspaper and had a small business too.

Traveling

When I was young my family traveled to Mexico, Canada and several other amazing places in our travel trailer and later a mobile home. I flew to Germany twice to visit my sister in law’s family.

Last fall I flew to Idaho to see my niece and meet my great niece and two nephews for the first time. They are in their teens!! I also got to see one of my sisters, (their grandmother and her husband) whom I haven’t seen in two years.

I enjoy going to Busch Gardens in Virginia with my best friend, and may plan more trips to other places of interest in our country. Now that I am older even driving several hours to visit a new interesting place or event adds excitement to my life.

Daily Life

Some of my days are spent recovering from the previous day’s activities. Actually activities done in one day which I should have done over several days.

The rest of my time I go out with my girl friends to see a movie, eat out, or travel. I also enjoy quiet time at home and even in a restaurant. While by myself I read information on the internet; write this blog, keep up with Facebook friends, play Poppit, Sudoku, and continue to get rid of things I no longer need.

I volunteer at a local thrift store once a week for a cat rescue agency so I can meet people, help the kitties, and get out of the house. I have also bought some really neat things there at great prices!

Blogging is a form of volunteering in my mind. By sharing some of my own sentiments about life, I believe I am helping someone somewhere start their day with a smile, or “Aha” moment, or inspiration.

Why Blog?

Writing my blog is important to me for several reasons. It helped me find my voice. I was a member of an online group of friends with which I shared various funny incidents and stories about my family. The readers’ responses became a motivation to write. Amazingly I was told how interesting my stories were!

Through blogging I meet like-minded people from all over the world and learn from them. It is always good to know there are others who feel and think like I do, regardless of how “unique” I might consider myself. (LOL)

Since keeping my blog fresh is a challenge I will periodically post some of my favorite photos. (Beauty is always a good thing to share.)

I hope you enjoy my stories and pictures as much as I enjoy telling them. Maybe you will feel like smiling and making the world a little better place too.

Hey Joyful…I mean M. Elaine! Hi! I’ve tried to come by and check out your blog before, but was always blocked for some reason. Well you know WordPress—they must have tried to shield you from my Cluttered Mind and its zany influence. I somehow managed to avoid all the landmines this time, though, and got through to say hello. Your blog looks very nice…and organized! So that alone suggest you have not been affected by visits to my blog which I can only attribute to your having been a nurse—that, or you’re immune to my chaotic influence. Anyway, I’m delighted I got through to visit your site. Keep up the great writing. ‘o)

Hi, IMCA,. Thank you!! I like your zaniness. Lol. I really appreciate your comments too! Zaniness runs in my family!! Being zany also helped me keep my sanity as a nurse too. Lol. I am sorry you had trouble breaking through my line of defense against non persistent readers. Lol(Not really.) I may have been working on the site. Let me know if you have trouble again. I got a kick out of your posts too!!

Thank you, my friend. I had to put my cat, Sister to sleep Sunday evening. I will write a post about it all soon. But she had uncontrollable diabetes from a slow growing pituitary tumor. I didn’t want her to continue to have lab tests done, insulin shots that weren’t helping much and all of the stress for both of us. She knew a week or so before I did. Happy New Year to you and yours!!

I am so sorry. I put Hazel down yesterday. I was blindsided. She had been hacking which I interpreted as a hairball, possibly stuck so I took her to our emergency vet (I couldn’t get into our normal vet.). They were very concerned when I took her in and put her at the front of the line. They took x-rays. She had congestive heart disease with a huge tumor in her abdomen. She had a hard time breathing. The prognosis for either condition was poor so it wasn’t much of a decision but I’m still struggling with it. I’ve had two cats with diabetes. One, Jake, did very well, living 9 years with it. The other struggled finally dying from all the side effects. I will write about it when I can think clearly.

Kate! I am so sorry! I know how difficult this was for you. Sister only had the diabetes 1 year. But she was mine for 9 years. How are you? I cried some the day of and a lot after. But I made the decision to put her to sleep last Friday. Your loss must be so hard with little warning. Everyone tell me it was the best thing for her. And I know it was, but I still miss her. Norie, my black cat is doing okay. I am so sorry. Surprise deaths are so much more difficult. Did you see any clues from her that she knew? Sister stopped sleeping in my lap two weeks ago, before I actually made the decision. She used to sleep 30 minutes there every morning. Two weeks ago she would sit in my lap a few minutes then go sleep on the bed. I have heard that animals often know when it is their time. I feel so sorry for your lost. Hugs and prayers for you.My heart goes out to you.

Thanks and truthfully I don’t know if it’s any easier knowing beforehand. I had the option of the vet draining her lungs and I could take her home for a day or two before they filled up again. I knew that would be very painful for me and I didn’t think it was quality life for her either. My heart goes out to you too. You can know something in your head but your heart still hurts.

So true. How odd that we both went through this at almost the same time. Things will get better. I highly recommend a book by Jon Katz. I think the name of it is “Going Home?) I read it a year ago and found great comfort in it. The author is an animal communicator. He said animals do not fear death. They just accept it as part of life. You may experience feelings like she is there with you, or see a shadow out of the corner of your eye. They are here to teach us something. When they have completed their task, they go back and start over with someone else. Also I love what a good minister told me long ago. That when an animal dies God can recreate anything for us that has lived us or brought joy to us. I believe they have some kind of soul too. Hope this helps some.Thank you for sharing this with me. Hugs!!